So let's start with the most EXCITING stuff, right? If you're a regular reader of my blog or a "regular" participant in some of the crazy events we have executed on Smule Sing!, you know that my best friend here on Smule and in real life is Mitch B., whose Smule tag is @wlm_mitch22_sf. In fact, here is Mitch's profile shot on Smule...
So when a particularly troublesome business deal finally closed and cleared the path, I took the opportunity to meet up with Mitch in Alabama for a short mini-vacation and to see a part of the country that I had never visited before--the South! (Seriously, there are times when I should have my head examined...and here's why)
I need to start describing my recent trip by saying I'm deathly afraid of flying and being confined in small spaces...and that may be putting it a bit too mildly. I could probably pull the seat rests right off the seat like the Incredible Hulk if I weren't properly "medicated" to stay calm-ish. My first plane ride in, oh, almost 20 years started badly. The plane trip--a "red eye" from San Jose to Atlanta--was delayed first 90 minutes, then 2 hours, then 4 hours and finally, almost 5 hours. You know, when you're already afraid to fly, a plane that is delayed almost 5 hours puts crazy thoughts in your head like...hmmm...
a. The plane they're sending you is broken and being repaired that's why it's delayed. God, don't put me on THAT plane!
b. The plane is experiencing trouble flying and it's taking 3 times as long to arrive. God, don't put me on THAT plane!
c. The plane is trying to fly through rough storms. God, don't put me on THAT plane!!
d. The plane was diverted through the Bermuda Triangle and only barely made it out in this space and time dimension. God, really, keep me off THAT plane!
Yep, ridiculous, certainly, but when you're afraid, well, these ridiculous thoughts get pretty "real" very quickly. Before I could come up with a 5th reason involving dinosaurs and the Twilight Zone which had our plane hopelessly delayed, the plane appeared in the dock, and weary travelers got off. Dreams for a less crowded plane were immediately dashed, when I learned that Delta had "downsized" the plane to a smaller one with less seats so that passengers were packed in pretty tightly in coach and rather uncomfortably in business/first class. The man who took the seat next to mine promptly put on his seatbelt, popped two pills, put a blindfold on, put a noise cancelling headset over his head, a dog-bone shaped pillow behind his neck, and sort of "clocked out" to the entire experience. All before I could even say that words, "hi, I'm..."
So I was alone...on a plane...for the first time in almost 20 years...AND my tranquilizers, which are good for 6 hours were wearing off in the 5 hour delay. Yep, this was not going to go well. After sitting on the runway for another 30 minutes, we were off. I'm never afraid of taking off or landing, which pilots tell me is actually the most dangerous part of any flight, but all the bits in between taking off and landing is what troubles me. It also troubled me a tad that it was taking this plane almost 30 minutes to achieve cruising altitude.
However, the crew immediately dimmed all the lights so that it was almost completely dark in the plane so that everyone could sleep, thus allowing me silent and undisturbed moments of blind panic that absolutely NO ONE would ever see. The only one who would witness my "freak out" was the man in the seat next to mine who was blindfolded and made deaf by headphones. With the lights out, even the flight attendants would not know I was afraid. So I closed my eyes and began praying like I'd never prayed before..."please God, just let me get to Atlanta."
Allow me a tiny bit of side-tracking here...there are many who would ask why Mitch and I are best friends? After all, he's a young guy from Alabama who until recently I did not even know, and I'm way over here in California and the age of his parents--we are the definition of "odd couple" in terms of friendships. But what no one knows is that Mitch and I have both overcome significant trials and adversities in our lives--Mitch more so than I. So when I say that Mitch is my "hero," I absolutely, positively 100 percent mean every single letter of it. If he were older, I would tell him that I would hope to be him when I grow up; but as he is younger, I tell him that I keep him as a reminder of what I should aspire to be every day of my life.
So back to the plane...as I sat there in the dark, fingers wrapped tightly enough the ends of the arm rest to "mold" the metal to interior shape of my fists, I did also think about what Mitch would do and how he kept telling me "you're gonna be fine." It didn't make the fear go away, but it kept it in check long enough for me to "fake sleep" for 4.5 hours and make it into Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, without Air Marshalls being summoned to subdue the crazy woman in Seat 4A.
As the plane taxied into the airport, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was on the ground, in the South, and at the start of my adventure, and what an adventure it was going to be!
But this blog is getting WAY too long...so stay tuned for part 2...I tackle the United States' Largest Airport and Come Out Only Slightly Bruised...
Singers Mentioned Here:
@WLM_Mitch22_SF is my pal, bestie and business partner Mitch B. You can join him for great songs here on Smule.
Me, I'm Grace and go by the Smule tag @Pokeypal. Join both Mitch and me for great songs, great duets and crazy good events!!
